September 8, 2010

Does your brand tell a powerful story?

I have worked with Holland Advertising in Cincinnati with various clients over the years. I have appreciated our working relationship and I subscribe to their eNewsletter which had this article or blog post today called, “Does your brand tell a powerful story?”. I thought it was noteworthy and worth sharing with you as well. See link below the logo and pictures of the Holland Advertising staff.

logo1 Does your brand tell a powerful story?

Holland Advertising Staff Does your brand tell a powerful story?

http://hollandadvertising.com/index.asp?mid=100&mid2=370

It’s short but sweet. Here are a couple of the first sentences to wet your appetite:

“One of the best ways for an entrepreneur to get a leg up in this competitive climate and distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack is to tell your brand story.

Story is how we connect with one another. Wonder why the emerging social networking sites are so popular? The answer is because people crave the emotional and powerful connection that comes through telling a story.

The best brand stories are irresistible, compelling and provocative in a way that your target audience is going to hear, seamlessly and effortlessly. Telling that kind of brand story will position you and your company as a leader in the marketplace.”

I find this to be completely true when selling advertising in REACH magazine. Selling is not manipulating people and trying to corral them into saying yes, it is telling a compelling story. I have stories of success and failure that I share with my prospects from the many years that I have been an account executive/master seller/top performer/outstanding service provider or whatever you choose to call me.

I am unwilling to put together ads for clients that I don’t think will have a positive impact on their business. I work with our designer and with the client to come up with something that, from my experience will generate the type of response that they will be happy with. If my client suggests something that I think is a bad idea, I am not afraid to say something. This is one part of the story that I bring to prospects and clients that I present to.

If you are considering incentive marketing, you would do well to discuss your ideas with someone who have helped businesses to grow for over 20 years using Dayton’s most popular direct mail coupon magazine, REACH Magazine. If I think I can help you I will tell you how. If I don’t think the fit is right for you, I will also tell you and I might direct you to other avenues that are a better fit. In the mean time you will be more educated and able to grow your business based on our time together.

Peter DeMott, REACH magazine and The Big DEAL, Dayton area.

937-478-6222 or peter@photosbypdemott.com

Easy fund raiser for Dayton area non-profits

Back to School means it’s time for more FUNDRAISERS. Would you like to have a fundraiser that does not require selling, no deliveries, no washing of cars, no handling of money, no picking up of anything. This has to be the easiest fundraising opportunity in the Dayton area.

eREACH and The Big DEAL want to grow their list. If you help them, your group can make some easy cash. The Big DEAL is great fun for those who sign up. Each weekday they will receive special deals (40%-80% OFF) from local restaurants, salons, massage therapists, exciting events and venues, and fun stuff to do in the Miami Valley. From a personal perspective my wife and I have already purchased 4 different big deals including one to The Melting Pot restaurant, a massage therapist, a mexican restaurant, and Qdoba Mexican Grill all at 50% OFF. So you can see that this will be very easy to get people signed up. And if for any reason they don’t want to get the Big DEAL in their email inbox any more, they can easily unsubscribe any time. One thing that makes it really fun is that you know the deals are good because they are only available for ONE DAY (you can redeem them for up to a year, but you only have one day to purchase them).

180x300 fundraiser Easy fund raiser for Dayton area non profits

Any reputable organization of 30 or more can participate. It can be a charity, a school group like a sports booster or PTO, it can be a church or any other not for profit club or organization.

The Big Deal will provide you with a custom sign-up link for your organization. You send out an email or put it in your newsletter or announce it at your meeting. You encourage family and friends to sign up using you special link. Then, for each person who signs up using that link, your group will receive $5 cash when that person responds by making a first time purchase of one of the Big Deals that is sent to them. For each first time purchase “Cha-Ching” your group makes $5 cash. If 100 people sign-up and 20 buy something, then your group gets a check for $100 cash for that month. If another 20 make a first time purchase the following month, guess what? your group gets another $100.  If 1000 sign-up and 200 buy something some time you get $5 for each first time purchase ($5 x 200) or $1000 for your group. Right now, your group could raise up to $10,000.00 or more based on signing up people to receive The Big DEAL in their in-box and when they make their first purchase.

Here is the link to get started to learn more : http://ereach.com/fundraiser/

You don’t have to sell anything really, just tell people about The Big DEAL and have them sign up using your special link. They then are tagged with your group information and when they make their first purchase of a Big DEAL offer from a local restaurant, retail or service business at 40-80% off then your group gets a cash credit. At the end of the month the cash credits are added up from all the first time purchases and a check is sent to your organization for the total. You could get a monthly check as those you signed up each find a Big DEAL that appeals to them and respond with their first time purchase.

This seems me to be a lot easier than selling candy and popcorn, selling mulch and plants and delivering them, selling raffle tickets, having a garage sale, car washes and all the other things that I see out there. My son was a wrestler in high school and he was expected to sell this and that for the team. What if he could raise money for the team just by giving family and friends a special hot-link which tags them to the Miamisburg wrestling team. When something good comes along and they make that first purchase then in comes a check for $5 for the team. No collecting money, no delivering overpriced candy or popcorn etc.

I put a call into our wrestling coach to tell him about it for the Miamisburg Wrestling Boosters. Hope he calls me soon, because this is too great an opportunity not to give it a try and those that sign-up are going to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Big Deals. My wife for example is finding it very fun to see what will come each morning.

This is a fund raise that fits right in with the philosophy of GIVERS GAIN!

Last of all, if you know a business that wants some promotion and buzz about the town by participating in The Big DEAL, please give me a call or email me.

Peter DeMott

REACH Magazine and The Big DEAL

937-478-6222 or peter@photosbypdemott.com

Harness the power of group buying to excite consumers in Dayton

bigdeal logo final1 300x179 Harness the power of group buying to excite consumers in Dayton

I have prepared a pdf that explains The Big Deal clearly. If you don’t understand Facebook and Twitter, this document can help you understand how the Big Deal in the Dayton area can generate buzz for your business for days and weeks. It also explains how The Big Deal is guaranteed advertising.

You can read it online or download the pdf and print it out to share with others in your retail, service, or restaurant business.

https://www.box.net/shared/dlhds49v7e

On a personal note: My wife Patty and I have already visited two restaurants and purchased additional services after using a The Big Deal certificate. She is excited to receive her Big Deal each morning and has found it a fun and exciting way to try out new venues and services and restaurants. In all cases to date, we have purchased more than the face value of the certificate and have discussed our experience with many friends related to those businesses.

So far each business which I have signed up for The Big DEAL has informed me that on the day that their Big Deal ran, they saw a spike in activities on their web site and fielded many phone calls from eager consumers wanting to know more about their business.

After your Big DEAL runs, we provide you with a print out of all the certificates that have been purchased. In addition we give YOU a check for your portion of the proceeds from the event. How cool is that?

You can call me at 937-478-6222 to learn more about the program or to have me come by to sign you up. There is NO cost to sign up and run the program so long as we feel that your business and DEAL are appropriate for our audience of thousands of opt-in email subscribers and Facebook fans. Of course we get paid, but it is in the form of a portion of the actual sales so your success is as important to us as it is to you.

Today’s Big DEAL is REVEAL SALON in Centerville 7/8/10

Don’t miss your chance to get $60 worth of Salon services for $29 from a top salon and medical spa in Centerville:

http://www.ereach.com/bigdeal.php/4/alpha/OH/45301

bigdeal salonreveal Todays Big DEAL is REVEAL SALON in Centerville 7/8/10

Here is where you sign up to receive the BIG DEAL in your inbox:

http://www.ereach.com/signup/index.php/4/alpha/OH/45301

Good marketing takes planning ahead for back to school

One thing that always frustrates us here at REACH Magazine is the business owner that calls us two weeks before our magazine goes out and wants to get into that issue. The problem is that we put it to bed (that’s printer lingo for sent it to the printer) the week before.

iStock 000010585912XSmall Good marketing takes planning ahead for back to school

Some types of business have “prime times” when consumers are more active in your category of business. Plan far enough ahead that you don’t miss critical deadlines and so that you are not rushed on your advertising decisions and development of advertising copy and creative.

Back to school is not just for school supplies

Many decisions about family involvements are made as preparation for school is happening. Sometimes a child going to school suddenly frees up time for mom to be employed or to take on volunteer work or other involvements. What sporting activities are our kids going to be involved in. Even though some of these decisions are made in September and October, if your business is effected by these decisions you will want to get out in front of your prospective customers early enough to prime the pump and get them thinking that you are one of the options.

Because of all the changes that happen in the back to school time period there are many businesses that are impacted significantly by marketing and advertising during this period.

Consider these businesses and how they might be effected by changes and plans that are made for back to school:

• Shoe stores

• Day cares / after school programs

• Clothing stores

• Technical schools / for mom’s coming back into the work force because their kids are now in school

• Dance Schools, Gymnastic Schools, Sports training, fitness, recreation

• Shipping stores (what did junior forget to take to college on move in day?)

• Computers, electronics

• Carpet cleaning and house cleaning

• Salons and spas

and more…

We are currently working on REACH magazine’s Back to school edition which will arrive in homes the first week of August. If you want to be in front of consumers with a compelling message and in the vehicle that consumers LOVE, please call me soon because we will put this issue to bed before you know it. Peter DeMott 937-478-6222

Duct Tape Marketing, great advertising and marketing resource for businesses

ps.kycbeyeq.170x170 75 Duct Tape Marketing, great advertising and marketing resource for businesses

I have been following Duct Tape Marketing with John Jantsch for some time. In fact when I was doing my advertising and marketing course for equine photographers online a couple of years ago, he donated a couple of his best selling book on advertising for small businesses. Now I subscribe to his blog via an email subscription and I also subscribe to his podcast via iTunes.

This particular podcast was interesting in that I have been using WordPress for this blog and my photography business web site for about six months. The title of this podcast is “Marketing in the age of Google” and it is an interview with the author of the book by the same name. Their conversation moves over to using WordPress as a complete web site which is what I do.

In just six months my photography web site has gone from 500-700 visits per month to over 5,000 visits in the month of May. Hope you enjoy this podcast and if you would like to meet to discuss advertising here in the Dayton area, I would love to meet with you. We can talk about WordPress websites, facebook pages, REACH magazine and THE BIG DEAL on eREACH.com  Feel free to call me at 937-478-6222 or email me at peter@photosbypdemott.com . I have over 20 years experience working with small businesses in this area, helping them to grow through advertising and advice.

You can listen from his web site here by clicking on the link at the top of the post.

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2010/05/20/marketing-in-the-age-of-google/

Or you can go to iTunes here and listen to the May 20th podcast here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/small-business-marketing-blog/id78797836

Some good lists of top 10 things you can do on the internet to get noticed as a small business

I subscribe to several other blogs about social media and internet marketing to feed me good ideas and keep me up to date. Both of these blogs are available as email subscriptions which makes it very easy to keep up.

Mashable is all inclusive and covers everything social media from the iPad and cell phones to YouTube and Facebook. When it arrives in my mailbox it starts with a list of links to each article so that you can scan the list and see what may be interesting to you and go straight to whatever interests you most.

TopRank is a bit more focused on SEO and getting noticed on the internet.

Here are three article links that I found informative and useful:

TopRank Some good lists of top 10 things you can do on the internet to get noticed as a small business

10 Easy Local SEO & Online Marketing Tips from TopRank

http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/local-search-tips/

7 Essential SEO Tips for Small Business from TopRank

http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/7-seo-tips-small-business/

mashable logo Some good lists of top 10 things you can do on the internet to get noticed as a small business

From Mashable, this is more in depth for the business owner willing to invest more time

10 Small Business Social Marketing Tips

http://mashable.com/2009/10/28/small-business-marketing/

Although social media is growing exponentially, I have to say that REACH Magazine is still powerful marketing for many categories of business. I have been in incentive marketing for over 20 years now, and have a long track record of matching up the right businesses for the right media and with the right incentive offers. There are many coupon venues in the Dayton market, but none of them have the rank and power of REACH magazine  (The Media Audit 2009) and for the right business, REACH can be a powerful lead generator or sale generator. Please feel free to give me a call to discuss your business and marketing in REACH magazine. Along the way you also get the information that I have found helpful in the realm of social marketing free of charge. In addition we now have a new viral internet marketing program for businesses trying to reach consumers in a new and interesting way with no up front investment at all. Peter DeMott 937-478-6222

Facebook growth & Social Media, as a business owner, are you aware?

This is an interesting You-tube video discussing how things are changing.

Social media Facebook growth & Social Media, as a business owner, are you aware?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng

May edition of REACH Magazine in Dayton, Ohio

Wow, our samples just arrived for the May edition of REACH mangazine that is distributing next week (April 26-30, 2010). I have to say that the content is diverse and exciting with everything for outdoor home improvements (landscaping, trees, grass, mulch, decks, painting, siding, garden centers, paver patios and driveways and more) to recreation and food galore.

Make sure you look for it in your mailboxes. You definitely do not want to miss this issue.

Would love to hear your comments about it when it arrives.

img003 May edition of REACH Magazine in Dayton, Ohio

Google Local Business Center – Promote your business online with or without a web site

You can give your business internet promotion without even having a web site with the Google Local Business Center. They even provide you with a informative video about the things you can do after you create your FREE account by clicking on the Sign-up-Now button:

• Show people on google maps exactly where your business or businesses are located

• Offer an online coupon that your customers can redeem at your business

• List your hours, phone number, web site and other details

• Photographs about your business or service or product

So, you can be on the web without even having a web site, but if you do have a web site creating a business profile on Google Local Business Center will increase your SEO on your site (Search engine optimization). That means that your rank when people are searching for your product or service will appear higher on the list of matches when someone does a search.

Here is a picture of the login area for Google Local Business Center.

Goggle Local Business Center1 Google Local Business Center   Promote your business online with or without a web site

This is how your business might appear on Google Local Business center when someone searches for you type of business. This is where I asked for a map of photography businesses in my area.

My photography business 1023x591 Google Local Business Center   Promote your business online with or without a web site

If you click on the dot on the map, it tells you who it is.

Focus in on my map dot Google Local Business Center   Promote your business online with or without a web site

Best of all, it is FREE and it only takes a few minutes to put all the details that you want to share about your business.